


Lost Cause

by Samantha_Rice



Series: Star Trek 'Verse [2]
Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Cadence Evergates, Cady, Confrontations, Emotional Hurt, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Jim/OC - Freeform, Mentions of Violence, Nu!trek, Pre-Star Trek (2009), Star Trek: AOS, Vega - Freeform, Vega Evergates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-10
Updated: 2016-05-10
Packaged: 2018-06-07 13:53:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,881
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6807694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Samantha_Rice/pseuds/Samantha_Rice
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cady Gets a call that Jim has been in a fight at the bar. Jim decides it's time to make some changes in his life, starting with the hardest choice he has ever made. (I'm really bad at summary writing...)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lost Cause

**Author's Note:**

> Title is taken from the Beck song of the same name. I thought the sentiment fit the tone of this piece.

Cadence answered the phone, a feeling of dread, like a lead weight, settling in her stomach.  
“Hello?” she said, her voice nearly a whisper.  
Jim had left that morning, and she had no idea where he had gone. He had told her that she was better off without him, not the first time he’d said it, but there was something in his tone, or maybe it was the look in his eyes, that had suggested that maybe this time he truly meant it. Meant it with a finality that left no room for her to argue it this time.  
“Cadence.” came the voice from the other end, backed by a lot of commotion. She closed her eyes, the voice and the sounds familiar to her.  
“He’s done it again, hasn’t he, Lew?” she asked, struggling to keep her voice even.  
“He pissed off some Starfleet cadets.” he told her. “Sorry, Cady.” she shook her head and sighed.  
“No, thanks Lew. I owe you one.” she told him, hanging up the phone. It wasn’t the first time the bartender had given her a call because her boyfriend had started a fight, but it was the first time since he had left his step-father’s house.  
She shook her head, fighting back tears, and grabbed her car keys. If she knew Jim, he’d need some cleaning up.  
*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*  
“He saved 800 lives, including your mother’s. And your’s. I dare you to do better.” the man in front of him was saying as she hurried into the bar.  
“Jim!” she cried, her voice breaking. The man turned to look at her as she moved forward. “Oh, what did you do?” she asked, her heart breaking at the sight of him. She moved to his side, gently taking his face in her hands and turning it towards her. She took in the blood, and the areas that were beginning to swell, and would no doubt be bruises tomorrow. She ran one hand through his dirty blond hair, her face a mask of concern.  
She could feel the man’s eyes on her, even as she heard his shoes on the floor as he moved towards the door. Jim was refusing to meet her gaze, so she turned it instead towards Lew, who was cleaning up by the bar.  
“Can I get some ice, please?” she asked, figuring it would help the swelling until she could get him home and cleaned up. The bartender nodded and walked around the bar. She could feel the Starfleet officer’s eyes on her as she turned back to her boyfriend, despite the sound of the door opening.  
“What are you doing here, Cady?” Jim asked, his voice sounding slightly rough. She could see the haze of alcohol clouding his vision, and sank to her knees on the floor beside his chair.  
“Lew called. Said you had picked a fight with some cadets.” she told him. When he didn’t respond, still staring into his beer, she tried again. “I’ve been worried sick about you all day, Jimmy.” she said quietly, using his childhood nick-name. His eyes flicked to her face, and she could see the hurt in his eyes, behind the drunken haze.  
“Don’t…. Don’t call me that. Please.” he said as Lew approached the table with a dishcloth full of ice. He tipped back the last of his beer, and took the cloth, pressing it to the area she assumed had taken the worst hits.  
She sighed and stood, moving her purse back to her shoulder.  
“Come on.” she said. “Let’s get you home, and cleaned up.” she turned, moving towards the door. “I'm sure Lew can get the bike back to the house.” she heard his chair scrape against the floor as he moved to follow her. She was just glad that Audrey was out for the night. The younger girl had always been the more outspoken of the two, and might have some words for Jim when he returned looking as he did.  
*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*  
They ended up taking his bike, he not wanting to leave it behind. That and, she suspected, it was also less conducive to conversation. He didn't seem to be in the mood for talking. She was fine with that, and she could always get Audrey or himself to bring her by the bar tomorrow morning to get her car.  
As they walked into the house, she noticed he was moving stiffly, probably from being thrown to the ground, or across a table, she supposed. It wouldn't be the first time. The bruises would fade, and so too, she hoped, would the mood he seemed to have fallen into.  
She took her house key from her purse, moving ahead of him to unlock the door, glancing back to see a look on his face that scared her a little. She knew him better than she knew herself in some ways, and she recognized the look that meant his thoughts were racing. She had no idea what the Starfleet officer and himself had spoken about, but it had him thinking about something.  
She had known all along that Jim was not the type of person who could remain completely happy in Riverside. She had thought that she had made it clear that she would follow him wherever he wanted to go, but perhaps he didn’t want her to? Or maybe since Audrey had started her college courses he thought she wouldn’t want to?  
“How about a hot bath, or a shower?” she suggested, as she opened the door, the lights still on in the house, she had left in such a hurry she hadn’t bothered to turn them off. He shook his head, following her inside, and closing the door.  
“Maybe in a bit. I’d rather just get the blood off of my face, and see how bad it is.” he said, moving to sit in one of the dining room chairs. She nodded, and moved to the kitchen, grabbing a plastic bag out of the cabinet, she filled it with ice, before wrapping it in a dry towel. She took the one from the bar from him, the ice melting through the cloth, and handed him the new one, and a glass of water.  
She moved quietly around the room, leaving the melting ice and towel in the sink, and taking the first aid kit from the cabinet underneath. She filled a bowl with some warm water, and took another towel from where it hung on the stove. It wasn’t the first time she’d cleaned blood from his face, but it felt different. Maybe it was the way he had been acting lately, or perhaps the fact that she was pretty sure he had been trying to break up with her this morning.  
She dipped one end of the towel in the water, moving his hand, and the ice, from his face. She frowned slightly, the bruises looking much worse in the brighter light of their home. She gently moved the cloth over his face, refusing to look at his eyes, even though she could feel his gaze on her.  
The towel and water slowly turned red, as she removed all of the blood from his face. His nose was swollen, possibly broken, there were several small scratches littering his face, and his lip looked like it was beginning to swell. She opened the first aid box, removing a small pill bottle and handing him one of the tablets.  
“For the swelling.” she offered in explanation, hearing him move the glass of water, she assumed to take the medication, and she rooted through the kit for the anti-bacterial spray. She shook the bottle slightly, ensuring that there was still something in it, and turned back to him.  
“Close your eyes.” she ordered, removing the cap. “This’ll probably sting.” she sprayed his whole face, just in case there were cuts she wasn’t seeing, and sprayed a bit more on the more severe scratches.  
“Cady-” he tried, but she cut him off.  
“You should probably take a bath, or at least a shower, to ease the sore muscles.” she said. “Put those by the wash, I’ll do what I can to get the blood out.” she offered.  
“Cady-” he said again.  
“I’ll set out some clean clothes for you, you can come to bed whenever you’re ready.” she said, beginning to clean up the supplies she had used.  
“Damn it, Cadence, will you listen to me?!” he cried, his palm colliding with the table. She closed her eyes, her hair a curtain between them as she was bent over the box of first aid supplies.  
“Why, James? So I can listen to you tell me that I’m not enough to keep you here?” she asked, struggling to keep her voice even. “I could already see it in your face, that you’re planning on leaving. I could already tell that you were struggling to be happy here.” she told him, the tears slipping past her closed eyelids.  
“That’s not it at all, Cady! I’m the one who isn’t enough. I’m not good enough for you. I’m a mess. You’re so full of life, and light, and I’m just… I get drunk and start fights. I’m only going to end up hurting you, and Vega, in the long run. I’m too much like my asshole step-father.” he said, moving to kneel beside her. She shook her head.  
“You are nothing like him, Jim. You make life better for us, don’t you understand? Audrey and I have been on our own since we were kids, and so have you. You fit perfectly into our lives. How do you think we’re going to take it if you leave? How I’m going to take it?” she said, unable to hold back the sobs anymore.  
“Cadence, that is not how I mean it at all. You are too good for me. You and your sister are the only family I’ve ever really had. But I need to… to prove myself. Make myself better, and I can’t do it here.”  
“I could go with you…” she whispered. Jim wrapped his arms around her, burying his face in her hair. She gripped his shirt, her tears mixing with the blood on his collar.  
“Come on, let’s get to bed.” he said, scooping her up. “We can talk about it in the morning.” he told her.  
*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*  
The next morning, Cadence woke up to hear birds chirping outside her window, sunlight streaming in through the sheer curtains. She stretched, and glanced to the side of the bed Jim usually slept on, her hand moving over the sheets. Her eyes caught on a folded piece of paper with her name on it on his pillow, and her breath caught in her throat.  
_Cadence,_  
_Forget about me. I need to prove them wrong, I can be something other than a delinquent. Vega needs you to be here for her, and you would only be holding me back where I'm going. I'm sorry it needs to be this way. Move on, and forget you ever heard of James T. Kirk._  
_~Jim_  
She broke down in tears, sobs wracking her body. That was how her sister found her that afternoon when she returned from school, sobbing, Jim’s note, and his pillow, clutched to her chest.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay! It's been quite a while, but I am still working on these, I promise. Writing has been slow going for me lately, as work has been kicking my butt. I have a new job though, and I am hoping to be writing more as well. I was re-watching the movie when the idea for this hit me, and immediately I pulled up a new document and began on this. Basically I was thinking of how Cady fit into his leaving, and setting you guys up with a little background knowledge so that FTASA doesn't blindside you with Cady being not so happy with Jimmy. Anywho! I hope you enjoyed this, and bear with me a little in what's to come!


End file.
